Document with indexes and associated document reader system

ABSTRACT

A document with indexes and associated document reader system. The document is constructed by printing plural pixels and divided into plural areas. Each of the areas has plural indexes respectively consisting of a group of indexing dots to represent an area code corresponding to the area. The indexes and the pixels have different optical reflection features. The system includes a filter, a pattern sensor and a pattern decoder. The filter allows a light with special wavelengths to pass through, so as to obtain a desired light corresponding to the indexes of the document. The sensor is connected to the filter for sensing the light passed through and accordingly forming a pattern to output. The decoder is connected to the sensor for decoding and thus obtaining corresponding indexes in accordance with the pattern outputted by the sensor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to the technical field of data recognition, and,more particularly, to a document with isotropic indexes and associateddocument reader system.

2. Description of Related Art

To increase convenience, interest and availability to read a documentprinted on an object such as paper or the like, a typical process embedsindexes in pictures printed on a document, uses an external reader toread an index corresponding to a part of pictures, and activates anoutput device to generate, such as a sound output, in accordance withthe index read by the reader, thereby effectively helping reading by thesound. However, due to the embedded index in pictures on the document,it causes complicated document production and affects picturepresentation. Further, how indexes are read accurately without pictureaffection is a problem to be solved.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,312 granted to Jacques, et al. for an “Documentbearing an image or a text and provided with an indexing frame, andassociated document analysis system” superimposes a layer of indexeswith plural dots on a source image. As shown in FIG. 1, an index 10consists of five active rows and five blank rows. The active rowscontain the encoding locations 30 and the empty encoding locations 31.Such an index 10 can represent different picture objects, which can beread by an optical reader system for post processing. For example,indexes representing different picture objects are associated withspeeches so that a speech corresponding to a picture object is played asthe optical reader system reads the picture object.

However, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,312, the index 10 arranges plural printdots in a matrix and orthogonal form. However, such an arrangement maycause incorrect reading on twisted pictures. Namely, when the documentwith the index 10 is slightly twisted, the optical reader system cannotread the index 10 accurately. In addition, an X-Y coordinate has to beapplied to the optical reader system for accurately determining anorientation of the read index 10 and identifying the index orientationalong with multiple codes. Further, the prior art superimposes the index10 on the printed pictures, which limits the printing procedures andwastes time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a document with indexes andassociated document reader system, which can accurately read the indexesin a twisted document.

Another object of the invention is to provide a document with indexesand associated document reader system, which can concurrently print theindexes and associated document pictures.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a document with indexes. The document is constructed byprinting plural pixels and divided into plural areas, each area havingplural indexes to represent an area code corresponding to the area. Theindexes, which are printed on the document with the pixels in mixture,are readable by a special optical reader system for extraction.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a document with indexes. The document is constructed byprinting plural pixels and divided into plural areas, each area havingplural indexes to represent an area code corresponding to the area. Theindexes are readable by a special optical reader system, wherein each ofthe indexes has a center dot, plural direction dots and plural firstdata dots. The center dot is on a center of the index. The pluraldirection dots are distributed respectively on a first distance from thecenter dot. One of the direction dots is used as a direction recognitiondot to indicate a start of indexing with respect to the center dot. Theplural first data dots are distributed respectively on a second distancefrom the center dot, wherein the second distance is greater than thefirst distance.

In accordance with a further feature of the present invention, there isprovided an optical reader system capable of reading a document withindexes. The document is constructed by printing plural pixels anddivided into plural areas, each area having plural indexes to representan area code corresponding to the area. The indexes and the pixels havedifferent optical reflection features. The system comprises a filter, asensor and a decoder. The filter allows a light with special wavelengthsto pass through, so as to obtain a desired light corresponding to theindexes of the document. The sensor is connected to the filter forsensing the light passed through and accordingly forming a pattern tooutput. The decoder is connected to the sensor for decoding and thusobtaining corresponding indexes in accordance with the pattern outputtedby the sensor.

In accordance with a further feature of the present invention, there isprovided a method of printing a document with indexes. The document isconstructed by printing plural pixels and divided into plural areas,each area having plural indexes to represent an area code correspondingto the area. The indexes and the pixels have different opticalreflection features. The method includes a color space transfer step, amixture step and a print step. The color space transfer step performs anRGB to YMCK conversion on an RGB image and generate YMCK image. Themixture step mixes the indexes respectively with YMCK pixels to thusgenerate mixed pixels. The print step prints both the YMCK pixels andthe mixed pixels to thus form the pixels of the document.

Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically shows a typical index;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an optical reader system capable of readinga document in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of printing a document in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 4 schematically shows an index in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 5 schematically shows another index in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 6 schematically shows a complementary index in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 7 is another flowchart of printing a document in accordance withthe invention;

FIG. 8 schematically shows an application of indexes in accordance withthe invention;

FIG. 9 schematically shows another application of indexes in accordancewith the invention; and

FIG. 10 schematically shows two extensions in accordance with theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an optical reader system 300 capable ofreading a document 600 in accordance with the invention. As shown, thedocument 600 consists of plural pixels 611 that can form differentobjects, such as a car, a computer or a monitor. According to theobjects, the document 600 can be divided into plural areas, each area601 having at least one object and plural indexes 612 to represent acode corresponding to the area 601. The indexes 612 and the pixels havedifferent optical reflection features.

The optical reader system 300 includes a filter 310, a sensor 320 and adecoder 330. The filter 310 allows a desired light with a specialwavelength to pass through, wherein the desired light corresponds to theindexes 612 of the document. The sensor 320 is connected to the filter310 for sensing the light and accordingly forming a pattern to output.The decoder 330 is connected to the sensor 320 for decoding and thusobtaining a picture information of corresponding indexes 612 inaccordance with the pattern 320 outputted by the sensor 320.

In this embodiment, the indexes 612 are printed in materials, such ascarbonaceous inks, readable by the optical reader system 300. When aspecial light (such as an infrared) irradiates, the carbonaceous ink onthe indexes 612 can absorb the infrared such that the sensor 320 sensesa dark dot to the index 612. The pixels 611 are generally printed inmaterials, such as any ink without carbon, unreadable by the opticalreader system 300. When a special light (such as an infrared)irradiates, the infrared passes through the ink on the pixels 611 toreach a print paper and thus produce a reflective light so that thesensor 320 senses a light dot. Due to the different materials used, theindexes and the pixels have different reflection features. The filter310 allows the light with wavelengths greater than 800 nm to passthrough, thereby obtaining reflective light from pixels, other than theindexes.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of printing a document with indexes in accordancewith the invention. As shown, a picture printed in the document can bein a BMP, JPG or TIFF format. The printing performs a color spaceconversion (step S310), so as to convert the picture format from an RGBform into a YMCK form. Thus, each pixel of the picture can be convertedinto YMCK pixels 611 of a 1-bit halftone image, i.e., each pixelconverted is constructed by a black (K) pixel, a yellow (Y) pixel, amagenta (M) pixel and a cyan (C) pixel, which is well known in the printtechnique and thus a detailed description is deemed unnecessary.

In step S320, the indexes and the YMCK pixels 611 are mixed. Generally,the black (K) pixels 611 are printed by a carbonaceous ink and also theindexes are printed in a material readable by the optical reader system.Accordingly, with mixture of the indexes and the black (K) pixels, aprinter can print the black pixels and indexes by one-pass print.

In step S330, it prints both the K pixels mixed with the indexes and theYMC pixels (i.e., the Y, M and C pixels). To avoid overlapping theindexes and the K pixels, each of the K pixels can be decomposed intoYMC pixels of 1-bit halftone image to print. Namely, each 1-bit Khalftone image is split into and represented by corresponding YMC pixels611, without substantially printing the K pixel. In addition, theoverlapped indexing dots and K pixels 611 can be printed as usual butcannot be read accurately. However, indexes are distributed overassociated areas and accordingly the entire performance is not affectedsince some of indexes in the associated areas can be read accurately.

FIG. 4 schematically shows an index 612 in accordance with theinvention. As shown, each index consists of a plurality of indexingdots. The indexing dots are arranged in isotropic, each indexing dothaving a radius of about 100 μm. The dots include a center dot 410,plural direction dots 421 and 422, plural first data dots 431-436 andplural second data dots 4401-4412. In this embodiment, each index 612has six direction dots 421 and 422 respectively located on a firstdistance ‘a’ from the center dot 410, thereby providing a directionindication, wherein the first distance ‘a’ is about 400 μm. Thedirection indication is provided with the direction dot 422 as adirection recognition dot to indicate indexing direction with respect tothe center dot 410. The direction recognition dot 422 can be a blank orhollow dot, which represents no dot printed.

As shown, each index 612 has six first data dots 431-436 respectivelylocated on a second distance ‘2 a’ from the center dot 410, therebyproviding a first data indication, wherein the second distance ‘2 a’ isgreater than the first distance ‘a’. In this case, the second distance‘2 a’ is twice the first distance ‘a’. The first data dots 431-436 canbe blank dots to represent logic 0 or solid dots to represent logic 1respectively. The first data indication is arranged in a clockwise orcounterclockwise direction starting with one of the six first data dotsthat locate on the same line with the direction recognition dot 422 andthe center dot 410. Namely, as starting with the dot 431 in FIG. 4, thefirst data indication indicates a value of 111110_(b) while the dot 431represents the most significant bit (MSB) in the clockwise direction anda value of 011111_(b) while the dot 431 represents the least significantbit (LSB) in the counterclockwise direction.

As shown in FIG. 5, the six first data dots 431-436 in FIG. 4 can bedots with different gray levels, wherein a dot with first gray scalevalue indicates a value of 11_(b) (such as the dot 431 in FIG. 5, itsgray level values from 0 to 32), a dot with second gray scale valueindicates a value of 10_(b) (such as the dot 432 in FIG. 5, its graylevel values from 49 to 80), a dot with third gray scale value indicatesa value of 01_(b) (such as the dot 433 in FIG. 5, its gray level valuesfrom 112 to 144), and a dot with fourth gray scale value indicates avalue of 00_(b) (such as the dot 436 in FIG. 5, its gray level valuesfrom 180 to 212). When the first data dot 431 indicates the mostsignificant bit (MSB), the first data indication in FIG. 5 represents avalue of 111001111100_(b). The dots are shown by the first to fourthgray scale values respectively to indicate 11_(b), 10_(b), 01_(b),00_(b), but they can be shown by first to fourth colors respectively to11_(b), 10_(b), 01_(b), 00_(b).

Referring back to FIG. 4, each index 612 has twelve second data dots4401-4412 respectively located on a third distance ‘b’ from the centerdot 410, thereby providing a second data indication, wherein the thirddistance is greater than the second distance. The second data dots4401-4412 can be blank dots to indicate logic 0 or solid dots toindicate logic 1 respectively. The second data indication is arrangedstarting with one of the six first data dots that is the first one in aclockwise direction from a line including the direction recognition dot422 and the center dot 410. Namely, the dot 4401 in FIG. 4 is a start torepresent the most significant bit (MSB), and accordingly the seconddata indication indicates a value of 111111111101_(b). Similarly, thesecond data dots 4401-4412 in FIG. 5 can provide with more data amountdue to the different gray levels or colors.

Since the indexes are printed in materials readable by the opticalreader system, for more uniformity and pleasing in print viewing,materials unreadable by the optical reader system are added in printingas complementary indexes, as shown in FIG. 6. The complementary indexesare complementary to the indexes of FIG. 4. Briefly, a blank or hollowindex of FIG. 4 becomes a solid index of FIG. 6, and a solid index ofFIG. 4 becomes a blank or hollow index. The complementary indexes inFIG. 6 have identical print positions to that of the indexes in FIG. 4,i.e., the complementary indexes are overlapped with the indexes.

In the description of step S320, both the indexes and the K pixels 611use materials readable by the optical reader system. As shown in FIG. 7,another embodiment shows that the indexes are printed in a materialreadable by the optical reader system, but all YMCK pixels 611 andcomplementary indexes are printed in a material readable by the opticalreader system. In addition, the complementary indexes are mixed with theK pixels, as shown in step S720. As such, the indexes can be readaccurately even they are overlapped with the K pixels or thecomplementary indexes.

FIG. 8 schematically shows an index application in accordance with theinvention. As shown, the document 600 consists of three picture objects620-622 located in respective areas 601, each area having plural indexes612 to indicate a serial number in a database for a respective object620, 621 or 622 in the area. For example, the indexes 612 indicates aserial number of 111110-111111111101_(b) for the object 620, a serialnumber of 011110-111111111111_(b) for the object 621, and a serialnumber of 001110-111111111111_(b) for the object 622.

The indexes 612 and the objects 620-622 apply materials with differentoptical reflection features for printing. For example, the indexes 612applies a carbonaceous ink for printing while the objects 620-622 applyan ink without carbon content for printing, or the indexes 612 appliesgreen ink for printing while the objects 620-622 apply blue or red inkfor printing. As cited, the indexes 612 and the objects 620-622 can havedifferent optical reflection features. Therefore, the inventive opticalreader system 300 can read the indexes 612 successfully.

FIG. 9 schematically shows another index application in accordance withthe invention. In FIG. 9, the document 600 is equally divided intoplural areas 810, 811, . . . , 834, etc. Each of the areas has pluralindexes to have a respective index value, such as an index 6121 for area810 and an index 6122 for area 811. The document 600 has two pictureobjects 620 and 621. The object 620 is on areas 810-812, 820-822 whilethe object 621 is on areas 813, 814, 823, 824, 833, 834. The opticalreader system 300 can pre-store a lookup table for indexing areas810-812, 820-822 to the object 620 and areas 813, 814, 823, 824, 833,834 to the object 621.

The orientation of the aforementioned index 612 may be unaligned inprinting or presents different in placing the document 600 leaning by auser. However, due to the inventive direction indication, the index 612can be read accurately by the optical reader system 300 in anyorientation, without finding an X-Y direction as required in the priorart for accurately determination on the index read.

As shown in FIG. 10, the document with indexes can be printed on anobject, such as a can 101 and a jigsaw 102. The indexes with differentindexing dots are printed on a surface of the can 101 and the jigsaw102, and even the subdivisions of mountain and car pictures in thejigsaw 102 can be distinct in accordance with the inventive differentindexes or indexing dots.

Although the present invention has been explained in relation to itspreferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possiblemodifications and variations can be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

1-17. (canceled)
 18. An optical reader system capable of reading adocument with indexes, the document being constructed by printing pluralpixels and divided into plural areas, each area having plural indexes torepresent an area code corresponding to the area, the indexes and thepixels having different optical reflection features, the indexes beingmixed with the plural pixels for being printed on the document, each ofthe indexes having plural indexing dots in an isotropic arrangement, theindexing dots having a center dot for positioning the indexes, theindexes using a material readable by the optical reader system inprinting, the system comprising: a filter, which allows a light withspecial wavelengths to pass through, so as to obtain a desired lightcorresponding to the indexes of the document; a sensor, which isconnected to the filter for sensing the light passed through andaccordingly forming a pattern to output; and a decoder, which isconnected to the sensor for decoding and thus obtaining correspondingindexes in accordance with the pattern outputted by the sensor. 19.(canceled)
 20. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the materialsreadable by the optical reader system are a material with a specialreflection wavelength, such that a light is absorbed as the light isirradiated.
 21. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the materialreadable by the optical reader system is a carbonaceous material, sothat a light is absorbed by an index with the carbonaceous material asthe light irradiates, thereby forming a dark dot.
 22. The system asclaimed in claim 20, wherein the light is an infrared.
 23. The system asclaimed in claim 22, wherein the filter allows a light with wavelengthover 800 nm to pass through. 24-36. (canceled)
 37. The system as claimedin claim 18, wherein the pixels have YMCK (yellow, magenta, cyan, black)pixels of 1-bit halftone image, and the indexes are mixed with K pixels.38. The system as claimed in claim 37, wherein the K pixels use amaterial readable by the optical reader system in printing while the YMCpixels respectively use a material unreadable by the optical readersystem in printing.
 39. The system as claimed in claim 38, wherein Kpixels overlap indexes, the overlapped indexes are not printed.
 40. Thesystem as claimed in claim 37, wherein the YMCK pixels use a materialunreadable by the optical reader system in printing.
 41. The system asclaimed in claim 18, wherein the pixels indicate one or more pictureobjects respectively contained in an area.
 42. The system as claimed inclaim 18, wherein the pixels indicate one or more picture objectsrespectively contained in plural areas.
 43. The system as claimed inclaim 18, wherein the indexing dots further have plural direction dotsdistributed on a first distance from the center dot, thereby providing adirection indication.
 44. The system as claimed in claim 43, wherein thedirection dots have a direction recognition dot as a start of indexingto thereby form a direction of indexing by connecting the directionrecognition dot and the center dot as a line.
 45. The system as claimedin claim 44, wherein the indexing dots further have plural first datadot distributed on a second distance from the center dot, therebyproviding a first data indication, the second distance being greaterthan the first distance.
 46. The system as claimed in claim 45, whereinthe indexing dots further have plural second data dot distributed on athird distance from the center dot, thereby providing a second dataindication, the third distance being greater than the second distance.47. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the document is formed onan object.
 48. The system as claimed in claim 47, wherein the object isa can.
 49. The system as claimed in claim 47, wherein the object is ajigsaw.